The multi-school mech league was set to start tomorrow morning, and both brothers were expected to make an appearance. If they showed up with their faces bruised and swollen, it would inevitably spark controversy online. After Old Liu set up the therapeutic lamps, he invited Li Xiao over. Each of them sat with a lamp pointed at their faces.

Song Jin looked at the sorry state of the two brothers, opened his terminal to check the news, and decided to just look away.

“They should still have more tricks up their sleeves,” Li Xiao said to Li Ji. “The attack today already involves the safety of the public; we might as well take the opportunity to cancel or postpone the competition.”

“Do you think there’s an ambush at the venue?” Li Ji picked up his tea cup, but accidentally tugged at the wound on the corner of his mouth and silently set the cup back down.

Li Xiao: “They went through so much trouble to get me here, and it’s an occasion where both of us are present—would they really let such a good opportunity go to waste?”

Li Ji pondered for a moment. Checking the time—it was 8:00 PM—he said, “Old Liu, notify the organizers. Considering public safety, suspend tomorrow’s event.”

Old Liu: “Yes.”

Just as Old Liu was about to contact the organizers, he suddenly received a message from a subordinate and looked at Li Ji in surprise: “Your Majesty, the rebel party has been captured and brought back to the garrison headquarters!”

Hearing this news, the brothers frowned simultaneously, not feeling the least bit happy.

“Catching themselves—not only do they get the credit, but it also allows tomorrow’s competition to proceed as planned.” Song Jin flipped through the news about the arrest on his screen and said gloomily, “They won’t let you get the slightest advantage.”

Since the rebels had been caught, the royal family would inevitably be criticized regardless of whether the competition was held or not. They would always find a reason to attack the royal family. However, if the competition were canceled now, the criticism would be relatively louder, especially since they had heavily promoted it beforehand and the whole country was watching this event.

Furthermore, the announcement that the rebels had been caught had already been sent out. Canceling the competition now would plunge ordinary citizens into a panic that the rebels hadn’t been fully purged, deepening the impact of the attack in their minds.

Old Liu looked at Li Ji: “Should I still contact the organizers?”

Li Ji’s face sank: “No need.”

“What kind of security work did you do in the preliminary stages?” Li Xiao looked at Old Liu: “Show me the data.”

Old Liu noticed Li Ji’s subtle nod and projected the relevant documents in front of Li Xiao. Song Jin pushed away his own screen and huddled next to Li Xiao to look through them together.

The entire competition base had undergone carpet scanning, and all security personnel had been replaced with the Imperial Guards and the Yi family’s troops brought along for this tour. The fleet was on standby outside the airspace, combat units were patrolling above the venue, and security had been reinforced near the observation deck where Li Ji was located. Every spectator, contestant, and staff member had to go through five levels of security checks upon entering the venue, and they were kept far away from the observation deck.

This configuration was sufficient to resist an average riot.

Song Jin: “If their goal is to cause a disturbance and tarnish the royal family’s reputation like they did today, this is enough, but—”

Hearing him pause here, Li Ji looked over: “Speak directly.”

Song Jin dragged his voice out lazily: “I’m just an outsider; some things aren’t easy for me to say.”

Hearing the snide tone, Li Ji’s voice was indifferent: “I really didn’t notice you considered yourself an outsider.”

Song Jin: “……”

“The competition venue needs to be scanned again.” Li Xiao swiped his finger, and the holographic 3D strategic map rotated with his commands. “Your observation deck needs to be scanned as well.”

Old Liu replied: “We will inspect it again tomorrow before the start.”

Li Xiao stared intently at the deployment map, circling several positions: “Triple the manpower in these positions. The current formation of the guards near the observation deck has quite a few loopholes. The defense near the two side observation towers is too weak; change them.”

Looking at the Meng family’s current actions, they were still trying to use the Ravens as a scapegoat to build momentum for a future coup. Meng Jian hadn’t yet obtained the administrative rights to the Tianjiang constellation, so the difficulty of a coup had increased exponentially. To maximize their benefits, the possibility of directly killing his older brother this time was very low, but the security still had to be flawless.

“Try not to let the public notice the standby fleet; it will only increase tension…” Li Xiao continued adjusting the deployment as he spoke.

The more Old Liu heard, the more surprised he became, and he couldn’t help but look at Li Ji. Li Ji, noting this, said to Old Liu: “Carry out the orders according to his wishes.”

Old Liu responded respectfully: “Yes.”

Suddenly thinking of something, Li Xiao added: “The guards protecting you tomorrow must be Betas.”

Li Ji assumed Li Xiao was considering the possibility of pheromone attacks and had Old Liu order it to be done accordingly.

Qi Shoude’s video call request came in, and Li Ji stood up to return to his office. After he left, Li Xiao used the excuse of taking Song Jin out for a tour to confirm if there were any cyborgs among the guards outside.

The hollowed-out area in the middle of the building was installed with a “Star Curtain” device. Walking through the corridor felt like walking through a primitive forest at night. It was beautiful, but Song Jin had been training everywhere for years and was bored with such wild scenery; he didn’t find it particularly special.

“The people who want to see it have no time to see it, while the people who don’t want to see it are dragged out for a tour,” Song Jin said with a sarcastic tone.

Li Xiao: “Just consider it a walk to help digest your meal.”

Song Jin: “This place gives me a feeling that there are too many mosquitoes; I can’t relax at all.”

Li Xiao: “You like sweets, so you’re the most attractive to mosquitoes.”

“Nonsense.” Song Jin’s beautiful eyes slanted toward him: “Aren’t I most attractive to you?”

Li Xiao: “……”

Mosquitoes only drank blood; he was different—he also ate meat.

The guards on this floor were all people who might come into contact with Li Ji. After Li Xiao used the walk to confirm them one by one, he returned to the room assigned to them with Song Jin.

Late at night, Li Xiao sat by the floor-to-ceiling window browsing the public opinion online.

Two hours after the garrison of the S1301 Heming District released the update about the rebels being captured, they released another update that the injured citizens had received timely treatment. Now, comments praising the garrison’s efficiency could be seen in many prominent places. The hot topics related to tomorrow’s league had also hit the trending list. Most of the news keywords published by the media mentioned both him and his brother, intentionally or unintentionally mentioning the rebel attack and expressing concern about tomorrow’s competition.

The top comments below indeed criticized the royal family for not calling off the competition under such circumstances and for playing with the lives of the masses. However, what surprised Li Xiao was that more people were concerned about his brother’s injuries in the thread, and many voices were still questioning whether the garrison’s preliminary security work was adequate; they hadn’t been completely led astray by the public opinion fabricated by the Meng family.

09 flew back from the outside and hovered in front of Li Xiao.

“I scanned it again. According to your prompts, I found three time bombs; one of them was planted on the floating observation deck.” As it spoke, 09 opened the holographic map and marked the three red areas. “These bombs are all wrapped in metal with extremely high concealment, and they have more than thirty layers of anti-monitoring mechanisms. Even I found it difficult to detect them.”

Li Xiao: “Did you dismantle them?”

09: “Dismantled. They are similar to the bomb installed in the transport vehicle; they only start the countdown after being manually activated.”

Once activated, the anti-monitoring mechanism would be destroyed, making them easy to discover, but the countdown was only a few short seconds. By the time it was discovered, it would already be too late.

Li Xiao reviewed the bomb information fed back by 09. Based on the materials used for the observation deck, this bomb wouldn’t be enough to destroy it or take his brother’s life. But if the observation deck where the King was located were bombed in public, it would inevitably cause quite a commotion and panic. The Meng family was indeed still playing this kind of game.

Hearing movement, Li Xiao looked over. The little cat came over after taking a shower, shrouded in steam, looking as soft and white as a newly steamed bun, making Li Xiao hungry. Song Jin wiped his hair and sat down next to him. Seeing the hovering map, he asked casually: “09 is back? Any discoveries?”

Li Xiao told him about what happened.

Song Jin frowned: “Is the Meng family completely disregarding the lives of the Qi family? They’ve made small moves twice on the Qi family’s turf. The royal family’s reputation is ruined, and the Qi family’s is ruined too.”

Li Xiao: “The Meng family wants to maintain their public image; they couldn’t possibly stir up trouble on their own turf.”

Song Jin: “They’ve just left the Tianjiang constellation, and there’s still more than half a month left of the tour. It’s endless.”

Li Xiao: “Let’s take it one step at a time. The more they act, the more opportunities we’ll have to catch them.”

Song Jin: “It’s just a pity for your ‘misery-magnet’ older brother. He could lose his little life at any moment.”

Li Xiao took the towel and helped him wipe his hair: “It probably won’t happen for the time being.”

Song Jin obediently lowered his head, feeling Li Xiao’s hand passing through his hair, and rubbed against his palm.

“When you were talking to your brother this afternoon, I heard the assistant mention your childhood. Did you really like to ride crocodiles for fun?”

“……” Li Xiao struggled to search for relevant fragments in his distant and chaotic memories, his tone somewhat nostalgic: “That was a pet my brother raised. It was very docile.”

“The assistant said it was a fifth-birthday gift from the late Queen to your brother. He was scared to tears by the crocodile at the time, saying it had no fur.” Song Jin laughed out loud: “Does anyone really give a child a crocodile for a birthday?”

Li Xiao: “I didn’t even know any of this.”

Song Jin looked up at him: “Then do you know what his favorite pet is?”

Li Xiao didn’t even have to think: “A raccoon-fox, maybe?”

Song Jin hummed lightly: “Boring, it was that easy to guess?”

Li Xiao: “When I was young, he secretly sent me a raccoon-fox cub. He was hiding it and didn’t want me to know, so I just pretended not to know.”

Song Jin: “……”

How half-hearted was that hiding attempt?

Mentioning this, Li Xiao felt a bit dazed. Childhood memories were remote yet felt like they had just happened yesterday, so profound that even after his rebirth, he hadn’t forgotten them. On one hand, he was being strangled and hunted; on the other, he was being sent pets. Because his brother was so capricious, he was completely bewildered.

His brother ascended the throne at about his current age. Their father and mother had passed away suddenly, leaving many things unsaid. He, the younger brother, was found to have problems with his bloodline, and he was surrounded by wily old foxes, three of whom had secretly and deeply bound themselves together. He found it difficult to imagine the confusion and anxiety his brother was under at the time. If he were placed in the same isolated and helpless situation at eighteen, he wouldn’t necessarily have done any better than his brother.

The words his brother spoke before his death in his previous life, and everything that happened afterward, allowed him to guess that the attempted assassination was the work of the Meng family. But speculation remained speculation, and he still wanted to hear his brother say it himself.

They hadn’t had a very pleasant conversation in the office in the evening, but Li Xiao experienced a sense of relaxation he had never felt before. An obsession that had plagued him for years could finally be laid to rest.

Suddenly hugged by Song Jin, Li Xiao came back to his senses: “What’s wrong?”

Song Jin: “I feel like you’re going to be snatched away by your brother.”

Li Xiao: “…… Are you drunk?”

Song Jin pressed against his ear, his lowered voice sounding very unhappy: “Even if he says, ‘I only have you,’ I won’t give you up to him.”

Li Xiao looked profound: “I am yours. Uncle Liu is the one who belongs to my brother.”

“……” Song Jin looked at him: “Are you serious?”

Li Xiao: “I’ll help him find an old partner when things are empty. Lonely old men are prone to extremes.”

Song Jin thought for a moment and felt it made sense: “Find him one with lots of fur.”

Li Xiao: “Lots of fur? A monkey?”

Song Jin was amused: “A wild boar would work too, just a little prickly.”

09, listening to their conversation from the side: “……”

Furless ones are also very cute.

In the office, Li Ji sneezed three times in a row, tugging at the wound on the corner of his mouth, and gasped into his hand.

“He really hit hard.”

Old Liu hurriedly adjusted the angle of the therapeutic lamp: “Just another hour and it will be fine.”

After sticking it out until the light treatment was over, Li Ji checked the time, put away his official duties, and got up to go back to sleep. There might be trouble tomorrow, but being able to watch Li Xiao’s mech competition was still something to look forward to.